» 2012 » January

In a season that has been defined by injury and turmoil – what would a match against the Bruins be without a little added injury and turmoil?

Injury

Brian Gionta has (most likely) been lost for the year as he has a torn bicep muscle that will require surgery. Gionta will finish his season having contributed just 15 points to the Canadiens in what should be considered by all as a complete disaster of a season for the diminutive player who will turn 33 in less than a week. Gionta has played 31 games this season – but he has been hampered by injury almost all season long – which has limited his effectiveness in the ice-time that he did see. I would expect that not only will Michael Blunden remain with the team for the foreseeable future, but Louis Leblanc will probably return to Montreal should any other injuries befall the Habs squad.

Turmoil

Michael Cammalleri spoke up after the Habs’ last loss to the St Louis Blues, saying essentially that the Canadiens’ losing attitude was at the heart of the team’s struggles this season. This quote was given to Francois Gagnon of La Presse and screams out as something that may have been misinterpreted or translated poorly before being seized upon by the national news media. Maybe.. Maybe not.

Ultimately I agree with Cammalleri. The Habs have been pretty terrible this season – and much of this is due to the fact that the teams most important players have been hurt – or lost their offensive mojo. The problem of course with his assertion, is that Cammalleri himself has struggled to find any kind of offensive or physical consistency this season. It has been noted many times on this blog that Cammalleri has looked lethargic at times on the ice. His play has been enigmatic at best. In fact, if Michael Cammalleri were Russian – there would be people talking about his heart.

Until the veterans on Montreal’s squad start to play up to the salaries that they are paid the team will continue to struggle. Whether or not the team needs an attitude adjustment is something that those of us outside the locker room cannot know. You certainly cannot blame the losing skids on players like Desharnais, Eller, Pacioretty, Subban or Price. The youth of this team would be an incredible benefit if the highest paid players were playing up to their offensive capabilities. There is no hiding the fact that if Cammalleri or Gionta is on pace for a season similar to their career years – we wouldn’t be talking about the team’s struggles.

“For anyone that wants to call me someone who takes cheap shots, they can say what they want. It doesn’t affect me. I don’t care what people who don’t know me and I don’t know them and they have no meaning to me, I don’t care what they say. I don’t really care what my reputation is. I just want to play. I’m doing this as my job. I love this team. I’m just trying to be a player and I don’t care what my reputation is really. I’m not out there to hurt guys. When I’m out there, I play a hard-nosed game and play hard. If guys are soft and don’t like it, then that’s fine. I’m not out there to please anybody. I’m out there to do my job.”

Memo to Brad Marchand:

Learn when to keep your mouth shut. You’re just making it worse for yourself.

You are not tough. You’ve had 3 NHL fights in which you were arguably the loser in each. Just because you play on a team that has tough players, does not mean that you yourself are anything more than a dirty, little weasel of a man who despite having a fantastic offensive season is making a very bad name for himself around the NHL. Shawn Thornton is tough. If he said what you did this morning it might carry some weight. You should actually take him out for dinner tonight, because at this point in your career he is probably the sole reason that somebody hasn’t taken you out to the woodshed. On this play, you took a clean body check from Sami Salo, after which you slashed him and then clipped him with a cheap shot a clear as if it was taken from a picture in an encyclopedia next to the term “cheap“. Now that you’ve said your piece – you can bet your next suspension (which is sure to be soon because you are such a cheap shot master) will be a very long one – because you have demonstrated that you think you are above the law, and are incapable of admitting you were wrong.